Some of you may recognize these daisy cookie pops from my post all the way from, um, yesterday. A common question I’m asked is how I get my cookies to stand so obediently on their own. I briefly cover how to make a cookie arrangement in Sugarlicious because, seriously, everything is covered in Sugarlicious. (This is on p. 198 if you’d like to go there now, should you own Sugarlicious, and if you don’t own Sugarlicious, why don’t you own Sugarlicious? See how I just linked five times in a row to make it super-easy for you.)

In the book, I primarily talk about covering Styrofoam blocks with tissue paper, and then arranging cookies, wherein the container is optional. Here, I’m going to give you lots more tips and details about making cookie arrangements using containers.

At the store where I decorated cookies for many years, Bundles of Cookies, the go-to shop for cookie arrangements, by the way, we used a different method. The cookies there are large, about six inches across, so the arrangements have to be much sturdier. But as long as you use relatively small cookies, no more than three inches across, you can make your own arrangements with Sytrofoam blocks.

First, you’ll have to start with some cookie pops or other treats on sticks. To learn to make cookie pops, click HERE and scroll past the giveaway info. For general cookie decorating how-tos, click HERE.  For these cookies, I’ll copy the instructions I posted yesterday:

To make daisy  pops, I first made cookie pops with a daisy cutter using the instructions found HERE. I then prepared my royal icing, divided and tinted white, yellow, turquoise, lime green and orange with my Americolor Soft Gel Pastes (Bright White, Egg Yellow, Turquoise, Electric Green and Orange). I piped a circle of yellow, then I outlined and piped to fill the petals in white. Between each petal I added a little squeeze-and-pull petal with a color of icing. For basic cookie decorating tips, click HERE.

how to make a cookie arrangement

you will need:*

cookie pops

container

Styrofoam block

tissue paper

*The cookie pops. Use cookies that aren’t too top heavy, no more than three inches across. You may use a variety of size sticks, just make sure they are tall enough to show above the rim of your container. And try not to go too high, for the sake of stability. I find size six and eight inch sticks are the best.  And be sure your cookies dry well overnight before arranging so you can handle without smushing. The container. Choose a container with a flat bottom that is shallow enough so the cookies can be seen and large enough to fit your cookies. This container is seven inches across and holds six cookies. The Styrofoam block. Find these in a craft store and choose one that is larger than or just the same size as your container, as it will need to fit tightly in the container. The tissue paper. Find in the craft store or party store.

step one: fit your Styrofoam block in the container

I happened to find a circle Styrofoam block about the same size as the bottom of the container, but I have been known to cut, hack, chop and whittle squares of Styrofoam into circles.  In fact, squares are even better for circle containers because they fit more tightly. Whatever you can do, get the Styrofoam block over most of the bottom of the container. Then, fill in the gaps and crevices with balls of tissue paper. And when I say fill in, I mean fill in. Crinkle, push, shove that tissue paper in the sides so that Styrofoam is so jammed in the bottom of the container that it’s dang near impossible and terribly annoying to even try and remove.

step two: arrange your cookies

Carefully insert the cookie pops in the Styrofoam block, starting with the taller cookies in the back. Allow an inch or so of space between the cookies so they don’t bump and break each other. With spacing, you don’t fit as many cookies as you’d think in a container. This container is seven inches in diameter and holds six cookies.

step three: add tissue paper

Gently and generously add tufts of tissue paper in between the sticks to cover the Styrofoam. That’s it!

TIPS to REMEMBER:

• Allow your cookies to dry well overnight before arranging so you don’t smush the icing.

• Don’t make the cookies too big, or they will be top heavy. Stick with three inches across or less.

•  Make sure your cookies are tall enough to show above the rim of the container. I find six and eight-inch sticks are best for stability. You may also use four-inch sticks if you have a very shallow container.

•  Remember to allow for space between the cookies so they don’t jostle each other. Containers may hold less cookies than you think. This container is seven inches across and holds six cookies.

• These arrangements are pretty fragile, so take care when traveling with them. I pack them in open shipping boxes to help me carry them from place to place.

 Tweet

Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

I volunteered to make personalized cookies for all the teachers at my daughter’s school for Teacher Appreciation Week. Before I get too many “wow, you’re amazing”s (wait, I should be getting those anyway), there are a mere eight teachers, so this task was not dramatic. The classes are named after flowers–buttercups, poppies and dandelions–so I made a bunch of those, too. Only as I was walking outside today and spotted buttercups scattered on the field and dandelions scattered on my, um, lawn, did I realize that these flowers have a theme. They are all wild. And so it suddenly makes sense why one would dub rooms full of toddlers “buttercups,” “poppies,” and “dandelions.” Wild, indeed.

All of these non-flower cookies represent likes and interests of the teachers. I love cookies as gifts. They are just so dang perfect for every occasion. They are consumable (so take up no space), personalize-able (so meaningful), and relatively inexpensive to make (not counting hours, compared to things like jewelry).

I made this little arrangement for the director. Since I didn’t want to ask her her own interests, and didn’t want to ask the teachers and give things away, I made her a buttercup, poppy and dandelion arrangement. The container is from The Container Store. I wrapped a Styrofoam block with tissue paper, inserted it tightly in the container, and then arranged cookie pops.

I made my sugar cookie dough and cut out circles with a 2-inch circle cookie cutter. I made my royal icing, divided, and used Americolor soft gel pastes (Egg Yellow, Red Red, Chocolate Brown, Super Black and Lime Green) to make two shades of yellow, red, dark brown, black and lime green. I prepared disposable decorating bags with couplers and size “2,” “3,” and “4″ tips, filled with icing, and closed tightly with rubber bands. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE. Decorate the cookies and let set overnight to dry.

To decorate buttercups…
Outline the flower with the darker yellow using a size “3″ tip. Let set about fifteen minutes, then fill with the lighter yellow using a size “4″ tip. When set, pipe dots with lime green using a size “2″ tip. Pipe a lime green stem with a size “3″ tip.

To decorate poppies…
Outline the flower with red using a size “3″ tip. In the center, pipe a big dot with the dark brown using a size “3″ tip. Let set and fill in the flower with red using a size “4″ tip. When set, pipe dots in black using a “2″ tip and pipe the stem with the lime green “3″ tip.

To decorate dandelions…
Pipe the base with lime green using a “3″ tip (a sort of bulb with a couple curly lines). With one of the yellows fitted with a “3″ tip, start at the green base and pipe lines back and forth in a fan shape. Let set and repeat with the other yellow fitted with a “2″ tip.

Tweet

Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!